Shares of CleanSpark (CLSK) fell more than 9.4% in premarket trading on Tuesday following US bitcoin. The mining company reported a widening net loss of $378.3 million in its fiscal second quarter, hit by a significant non-cash adjustment to its digital asset holdings.
The company reported a net loss of $378.3 million for the quarter ending March 31, a sharp increase from the $138.8 million loss reported in the same period last year. The loss of $1.52 per share was more than triple analysts’ EPS estimate of a loss of 41 cents.
The company’s bottom hit was primarily due to a non-cash bitcoin fair value loss of $224.1 million, reflecting market volatility.
Quarterly revenue hit $136.4 million, down 25% from $181.7 million year over year, the report revealed, missing estimates of $154.3 million.
Despite the decline, CleanSpark expanded its infrastructure, doubling its megawatts (MW) under contract. CEO Matt Schutz said the company is pivoting toward commercializing “AI/HPC-enabled assets,” joining an industry-wide shift toward leasing its computing power as AI data centers.
Chief Financial Officer Gary Vecchiarelly cited the company’s balance sheet as a “competitive advantage, reporting bitcoin holdings increasing 14% to $925.2 million over last year. Total cash is $260.3 million, while total assets now stand at $2.9 billion with long-term debt of $1.8 billion.
The estimated average cost of mining one bitcoin was $88,000 in mid-March, according to a report from Checkonchain’s difficulty regression model. The current price of bitcoin is around $80,000, which means that bitcoin mining companies across the board are operating at a loss.
This economy has forced bitcoin miners to pivot towards artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure. The bitcoin mining industry had taken on approximately $70 billion in such contracts by the end of March.
Read more: Circle raises $222M for Arc, beats Q1 earnings estimates but misses revenue
